STAGING CAMBRIA: SHAKESPEARE, THE WELSH, AND THE EARLY MODERN ENGLISH THEATER, 1590-1615 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Marisa R. Cull, M.A. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ The Ohio State University 2008 Dissertation Committee: Approved by: Professor Richard Dutton, Advisor ______________________________ Professor Christopher Highley Advisor English Graduate Program Professor Luke Wilson ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on theatrical representation of Wales and the Welsh at a particularly pressured moment in the development of the English nation. In these twenty- five years, England strengthened its armed forces to fight wars both foreign and domestic, expanded its empire and moved toward a “British” state, and continued adapting to the changes of the Reformation. This dissertation argues that the frequent and varied representation of Wales and the Welsh on the late Tudor and early Stuart stage reveals the extent to which the English understood their national history and identity in relation to their western neighbors. Although Wales has been overshadowed by Ireland and Scotland in studies of early modern English nationalism, its impact on the formation of English national identity should not be underestimated. As the descendants of the heroic ancient Britons (including King Arthur), the Welsh had an enviable narrative of military prowess that the English often co-opted for themselves; moreover, the English annexation of Wales—culminating in the 1536 Act of Union—provided a hopeful precedent for how England might incorporate its most resistant Celtic neighbor, Ireland, and later, for how England might expand into a British empire. Finally, the Welsh, who claimed connection to the earliest Christian Britons, were also commonly associated with paganism and Catholicism—making them a locus for English anxiety about the success ii of the Reformation. In plays such as Peele’s Edward I, Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV, Henry V, and Cymbeline, and R.A.’s The Valiant Welshman, we see the Welsh as valiant soldiers, boastful gasbags, proto-Protestant heroes, and pagan prophets; we also see Wales as a flourishing British kingdom, a barren, primitive, backwoods, and an idyllic rural countryside. Such variety of representation demonstrates the way in which England appropriated and adapted Wales in order to represent and reflect upon England’s struggles with war, nation formation, and religious change. This investigation not only allows for a deeper sense of how Wales and the Welsh took part in the development of English nationalism, but it also provides a richer understanding of the textual and theatrical dynamics of both canonical and non-canonical literary works. iii For Matt and for mom and dad iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is my great pleasure to acknowledge the debts I have incurred while working on this dissertation, and there is no greater debt than the one I owe to my advisor, Richard Dutton, whose support, guidance, and care have been invaluable. His help in formulating the idea for this project, his willingness to have long “chats” about all things Welsh, and his tireless cheerleading and good humor were the greatest gift I could hope for as a doctoral student. I feel privileged to have worked with him here, and will count it an honor each time I remember a piece of his advice about thinking through and writing about literature. It is my sincere hope that this dissertation is a credit to his talent as a scholar and an advisor. I am grateful to my committee members, Christopher Highley and Luke Wilson, who have been careful readers and gracious supporters of this project. I thank Chris, of course, for the incredible insights that his own past work has provided to this dissertation, but I also thank him for guiding each one of my chapters with both compliments and criticisms. I have counted on Luke at nearly every stage of this dissertation to help me formulate the larger ideas of any given chapter, and I thank him for the time he spent meeting and talking with me about these ideas. v I would also like to extend my thanks to other members of Ohio State’s English department who have not served on my committee but who have nevertheless provided support toward this project. John N. King enthusiastically agreed to read chapters and always offered insightful feedback; I thank John for the guidance and training he has given me in nearly every aspect of the academic profession. The help of Susan Williams, who ran the 2006 dissertation seminar, was much appreciated in the early stages of this project. Alan Farmer helped me to articulate some of the most pressing implications of this project, and his questions and comments helped me to understand my own work more fully and more confidently. Amanpal Garcha’s help in formulating job materials had a profound effect on this dissertation: his perspective led me to new formulations of the project’s thesis. The Department of English as a whole deserves my great appreciation for the generous funding opportunities it has provided me during the dissertation writing process; I am especially grateful for the support of two summer fellowships, both of which allowed me the time to complete whole chapters of this study. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Mary Stuart Lundie Vorman fund, which on two occasions provided me with funds for fellowship quarters. I have been honored to receive Ohio State’s Presidential Fellowship, and I offer my deepest gratitude to the Graduate School for fully funding the final year of my dissertation work. My friends and colleagues at Ohio State and beyond have provided an unparalleled support system. I would like to acknowledge the wonderful community that has been built under the guidance of Alan Farmer; the Renaissance Dissertation Seminar vi has added much value to the cohort of Renaissance scholars at OSU, and I thank the participants—faculty and fellow graduate students alike—for reading and critiquing multiple chapters of this dissertation. I especially thank Steven Galbraith and Mark Rankin, who offered their veteran graduate student advice, and who were an inspiration in their successes. Ivonne García read every single part of this dissertation, and I cannot thank her enough for both her insights and her friendship. She shared in my successes with the most sincere joy, and counseled me through writer’s block and frustration with patience and wisdom. Elizabeth Zimmerman has not only read and critiqued this work, but she has also kept it fun with her willingness to joke and provide distraction whenever I needed it; I doubt that I would have retained my sanity without our sometimes daily talks. There is little more that one could ask from these two friends, and I am forever grateful to them. My husband Matt, as always, has been a constant source of love and patience. I thank him for listening to me try out ideas, for reminding me to have fun, and for just plain being who he is. His calm under pressure and his incredible work ethic have always left me stunned, but during the dissertation process these traits were also a model. Finally, I want to thank my parents, Kevin and Rose, who have believed in me— and told me so—every step of the way. My gratitude to them is boundless, and the only way I know to express it is to tell them that all of my achievements are, without a doubt, theirs. vii VITA August 27, 1980. .Born—Columbus, Ohio, United States 2007-2008. .Presidential Fellow, The Ohio State University 2004. M.A. English, The Ohio State University 2002-2007. .Graduate Teaching and Graduate Research Associate, The Ohio State University 2002. .B.A., Summa cum laude, English and Philosophy, Capital University FIELDS OF STUDY Major field: English viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract. ii Dedication. .iv Acknowledgments. v Vita. .viii Introduction: “The Residue of Britons”. .1 Chapters: 1. “Prince of Wales by Cambria’s Full Consent”: The Princedom of Wales as Political Stage. .23 2. “The Disciplines of the Wars”: Welsh Militarism and English Patriotism on the 1590s Stage. .76 3. Contextualizing 1610: Cymbeline, The Valiant Welshman, and The Princes of Wales. .124 4. Priests, Parsons, and Prophets: Representing Welsh Religion on the English Stage. .168 Conclusion: Having it All Welsh: The Prototypal Stage Welshman Achieved?. 222 Bibliography. 235 ix INTRODUCTION “THE RESIDUE OF BRITONS” In the preface to his sprawling historical and topographical account of Britain— the cleverly titled Britain—William Camden claims that his goal is to “restore antiquity to Britaine.”1 It was a lengthy and popular restoration. Camden published the first edition of his chorography (a county-by-county description of the landscape) in Latin in 1586 and presented seven more editions before an English version—translated by Philemon Holland and likely overseen by Camden himself—was published in 1610.2 It was, obviously, a complex project. Camden goes on to describe the rigorous—and, indeed, when compared to the methods of historiographers and antiquarians that had come before him, revolutionary—process by which he completed his survey of Britain. He traveled widely, learned the languages of early British peoples, corresponded 1 Britain (London, 1610), ℵ4 (sig. A2r). Unless otherwise noted, the quotations cited from Britain here can also be found in the Latin versions of the text. 2 Camden’s involvement in the subsequent printings of Britannia, including his involvement in the English translation of 1610, is usefully explored in Wyman H. Herendeen’s entry, “Camden, William (1551–1623)” (in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online. <http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.lib.ohio- state.edu/view/article/4431>, accessed 18 March 2008).